Page:Robert Barr - Lord Stranleigh Philanthropist.djvu/161

 occasionally Crane delivered moral lectures on self-help, on the uplift, and what-not, but speedily found himself without an audience when the men learned that attendance was not compulsory. These entertainments proved to be as inadequate a substitute for a low-down East-End music-hall as sugared lemonade is to take the place of whisky on the palate of a confirmed drunkard.

When at last it became necessary to place a restriction on the consumption of beer, a demand was made for stronger drink, and this being refused, the men went on strike for a day and a half, succumbing at the end of that time through force of hunger, for it was "No work, no meals," a ukase which Harrison characterised as exceeding the vilest tyranny of Russia. Were they men, or were they not? The authorities, ably aided by the cook, appeared to think they were not.

The failure of this strike secured quietness and reasonable obedience for about ten days. Then an emeute occurred that nearly brought about the closing of the phalanstery. One afternoon the men deserted in a body, and made for Lyme Regis. It was now the month of April, and the country was looking lovely, but although Browning wrote—